Real Madrid are no doubt the most likely destination for Kylian Mbappe next summer if he does leave, but what is equally certain is that other clubs will try to tempt the French superstar. According to Ligue 1 expert Jonathan Johnson, the most likely challenger is Liverpool.
Mbappe recently made it very clear that while he was intending on staying at Paris Saint-Germain this season, he had no intention of extending his deal beyond this season. That would leave him as a free agent in the summer of 2024.
According to Johnson, Real Madrid should be heavy favourites again, as he told Caught Offside.
“In terms of a possible departure in the future, you can’t really rule anything out, but the club that Mbappe absolutely wants to play for and the club that absolutely want him is Real Madrid, and there is now an opening with Karim Benzema having left, which was unexpected.”
However, if asked to pick an alternative, although you cannot rule out anything, Liverpool are more likely than Chelsea or Manchester United to put up a good fight.
“Personally, if it was for me to pick a perfect destination for him in the Premier League, I think Liverpool would be a more realistic move. Again, they’re not in the Champions League next season so it’s a non-starter for this summer, but they’re a club who’ve had a historical interest in him, so if they get back into the Champions League next summer, and are challenging for the Premier League again, that could potentially be an option for him again in the future.”
“But overall, there’s no getting away from the overall feeling that the most likely destination for Mbappe at some point, whether it’s this summer, next summer, or a couple of years away, is Real Madrid.”
Real Madrid will essentially play the waiting game at this point, with Mbappe aware that he has run out of credit with the club to be courted by them. If he wants to play for Los Blancos, then he must make the first moves. Given he has passed up the chance to go to Real Madrid three times, it would likely be an historic rejection, if he were to decide against doing so a fourth time.